


We Can be Us (Just For One Day)

by Agrippa, baeconandeggs



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: AU - Elementals, Alternate Universe - Space, Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Bounty Hunters, Eventual Romance, Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Implied Human Experimentation, Imprisonment, Isolation, Kokobop Era Baekhyun, M/M, MAMA Era Powers (EXO), Obsession Era Chanyeol, Requited Love, Science Fiction, Slow Burn, Smut, Swearing, slight angst, space travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-03
Updated: 2020-06-03
Packaged: 2021-03-04 04:48:31
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 11,056
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24527890
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Agrippa/pseuds/Agrippa, https://archiveofourown.org/users/baeconandeggs/pseuds/baeconandeggs
Summary: Baekhyun, a delivery-driver-turned-bounty hunter through a series of unfortunate circumstances, isn't certain what he expects to find upon breaking into a secure experimentation facility on lock-down on a distant planet- alert sirens blaring, and doors all locked- he doesn't really care, either... At least, he shouldn't- but what, or rather, who, he finds, promptly upends his fragile reality and makes him question the true motives of his employer. How can the job truly be worth the credits, when Chanyeol's worth exceeds even the highest bounty?
Relationships: Byun Baekhyun/Park Chanyeol
Comments: 16
Kudos: 160
Collections: BAE2020





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> **Prompt:** BAE745  
>  **Disclaimer: baeconandeggs/the mods is/are not the author/s of this story. Authors will be credited and tagged after reveals.** The celebrities' names/images are merely borrowed and do not represent who the celebrities are in real life. No offense is intended towards them, their families or friends. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this fictional work. No copyright infringement is intended.
> 
> **Author's Note:** Kokobop Era!Baekhyun, Obsession (x-exo) Era!Chanyeol, With inspiration taken from ""Lucky One.""
> 
> Huge thanks to the mods for their patience, and to my betas for proof-reading and fixing my fic along the way! I honestly wasn't sure if I'd be able to finish this fic, with real-life priorities and work, but thankfully I managed to do so with a couple of extensions from the BAE Mods. This story isn't very long, but I hope that the pacing is alright and that everything makes sense. Thanks for reading!

"No questions," Baekhyun drawled, boredly chewing gum that had lost all flavor approximately three minutes after sticking it in his mouth. He liked to say it was to keep his ears from popping with the atmospheric changes in pressure that occurred with space travel between galaxies- but it was more a force of habit than anything. 

Maybe to help give the extra air of "nonchalance," about him, that prevented potential benefactors from attempting to haggle him down in credits. 

For some reason, this one didn't seem to feel inclined to do so- which told him one of two things. One- high risk target. Dangerous, potentially lethal. Two- the original bounty setter was getting desperate. Time sensitive, then. 

It wasn't his job to ask questions- it was his job to complete the transaction, regardless of what, or rather, _who_ , the currency he was exchanging in, exactly pertained to. 

In that line of work, morals didn't really have their place. A job was a job. 

And dirty money… 

Baekhyun shot a fleeting glance towards his own ship- in desperate need of repairs that far exceeded his own below-mediocre mechanical skills. 

Was, _nonetheless_ , still money. 

And the job in question was offering _a lot_ of it. 

Which only brought into question, after having remained on the roster for over two weeks, how someone else hadn't completed or claimed it yet. 

"I'll take it." 

The investor offered him a single, solemn nod. Baekhyun frowned internally. 

"It is quintessential that your quarry be treated with utmost care, and most importantly, be brought back _intact_. I'll tell you, now that you've officially taken on the bounty, that the subject in question has a rather… Fiery disposition." 

Baekhyun just offered a dismissive shrug, dropping his feet down to the floor from where he'd kicked them up onto the bar table just a few minutes prior. He'd dealt with it all- potential hazards, across the various different solar systems in which he had done business- and he'd always come out mostly alive. Not always in top condition, but… Those were simply the risks associated with being a bounty Hunter for a living. One had to expect wear and tear, and even, in some cases, the high probability of death. 

"Your tracking fob contains all the necessary details for your mission. Be careful out there, Hunter. And good luck, you'll certainly need it." 

Baekhyun squinted suspiciously, but internally shrugged it off as he offered him a dismissive wave of his hand, before hastily pocketing the device and turning to leave the bar. 

* * *

Upon entering the nav coordinates into his ship's astrogation system, he squinted- smacking his cracked screen a couple of times in a haphazard attempt to clear the picture, something which proved to be largely unsuccessful, until the static obscuring the glass abruptly cleared some seconds afterwards. 

To his surprise, the location of his mysterious, still unnamed quarry, remained within the same solar system as the drop-off point- making his job exponentially easier, by proxy. A shorter distance, meant there was less time he needed to keep his target restrained, or completely unconscious altogether. Less pit stops, smaller potential for dangerous encounters, and a decreased risk to have his ship boarded by unwelcome guests, if not blown to smithereens entirely. 

He could say the life of a bounty hunter was a fun one… But he'd be lying. Boring? By no means. But nor was it the type of excitement he'd typically otherwise entertain himself with on his rare off days. 

A single tap on his screen, to where the target coordinates were pinging him, gave him a closer look; Argos Rho- a compact cluster within the milky way galaxy that went largely overlooked, planets hostile and uninhabitable; thus non-viable for colony establishment. 

The planet in question remained just on the outskirts- an arid, desert climate, he registered with a grimace. Sweaty balls and matted hair was all that that meant. 

Setting his trajectory manually, his cramped, battered and creaking ship set sail for his target's last known documented location. 

_ 

Iapra wasn’t hot or humid. Baekhyun was wrong about that- Because the heat on Iapra was beyond _sweltering._ His forehead was caked in sweat, hair sticking to his neck and plastered to the sides of his face, and he swore to himself, in that moment, that he couldn’t _possibly_ have been any more miserable than he was right then. 

Well, he was wrong about that, too. 

In a cheesy horror flick, he mused, as he broke into the research facility on lockdown, without a companion, without a partner, this would be how he died. By doing something _stupid_ like this. The locks hadn’t even been tampered with, he realized quite quickly- and with the bounty having been up for over two weeks, it would seem no one had been here for quite some time now. 

Even outside, he could hear the incessant, violent blaring of the security system sirens meant to alert workers and inhabitants of the potential threat and imminent danger lying within the walls of the facility. There had to have been an emergency evacuation, at some point, he concluded- with the doors and windows all locked and no sign of human life or activity within or beyond the facility. 

Yet still, he knew nothing about the bounty target within. 

_‘Credits, Baekhyun,’_ He reminded himself. ‘ _All you have to do is not ask questions, and get the job done.’_

He’d survived worse odds. Much, much more dire circumstances. 

He just apparently had yet to learn his lesson. 

Upon vacating the premises, his tracking fob had started beeping- the rate of which determined by the estimated distance from his quarry. The closer he neared, the more quickly the beeping sounded in succession, with a small red LED light flashing in time with the noise. It was like a particularly unnerving game of ‘hotter, colder,’ but done almost entirely blind. 

The lights weren’t all dark- but the vast majority were either off, burnt out entirely, or flickering, leaving very little of the large, winding facility illuminated- and him much, much closer to pissing his pants. 

_Credits._

Finally, nearing a large expanse of tempered glass, his tracking fob gave one last, elongated, shrill sound to signal he’d found his target, then shut off automatically. 

Not quickly enough, however, to avoid alerting the quarry. 

A loud, resounding slam against the glass, with a burst of flame appearing behind it and dissipating from one second to the next, had him clutching at his chest as his heart raced and his pulse thumped in his ears. Wholly unimpressed, peering into the blank space before him, but mostly absolutely _terrified._

There it was, he supposed. Confined to a glass prison. 

Now, he just had to find a way to get it out without losing it entirely. 

His first feat, was finally managing to locate the lighting panel for that cell block- wincing when all the blindingly bright, white lights switched on all at once with a resounding, collective hum. 

Everything was white. Pristine. Clinical. He couldn’t pretend to _not_ know the intent of a facility such as this one- but he could damn well try, if only to avoid the impending guilt of freeing a creature from one hell, only to transport and ultimately confine it to a much, much worse hell. 

He rounded the corner to bring himself back to the area of his imprisoned quarry- refusing to raise his eyes until he was just a few feet away. 

The last thing he needed was to be intimidated into tucking his tail between his legs and running away- it had certainly happened before- 

He blinked, heavily. 

_Oh._

His quarry, his lethal, dangerous, fiery bounty target, stood in the form of a particularly large, imposing man- vibrant red and pink hair first catching his attention, followed by the scars marring his face, and the presence of one colorless, blank eye, presumably completely useless if the lack of visible pupil or pigmentation was any indication. 

The expression he wore, was terrifying in it’s own right; a complete lack thereof. No expression. No emotions. Nothing to tell him what this… Thing, was thinking. If this thing was thinking. Was it a man, or was it an animal? Trapped behind the walls of a glass cell. 

In the corner of the large tempered glass panel, stood an easily distinguishable "061" in bold black. 

_Oh no._ Baekhyun internalized, swallowing dryly. 

A lot of people hated their jobs. 

But those people would be hard pressed to hate their jobs more than Baekhyun hated his own career- one he had been forced into, rather than due to his own desire or bloodlust. Baekhyun, was not a cruel man. He did the bare minimum, he did what he needed to do. 

He didn’t want to need to do this. 

Eyes taking in the beast of a man trapped behind glass, his condition was something he shouldn’t have cared to catalogue. 

He wasn’t broken, but he was certainly battered, and, if the red caking the arm he was nursing against his abdomen was any indicator, a little fractured, in some places more than others. It was his own blood- There were no bodies or limbs housed in the cell with him- and if the vibrancy was anything to go by, the wound was fairly recent. Not fresh, but not older than a week at most. Self inflicted, then- likely not intentional, but instead a probable result of his trying to escape the cell. 

And really, with the blaring of the sirens continuing in the background, he could hardly blame him. That sound was enough to make any man go crazy. 

Finally, he cleared his throat, smile a little watery- unsure and uncomfortable. “So, I’m supposed to get you out of here…” He laughed nervously, scratching the back of his neck. “But, hey, you’re a pretty big guy, and you’re probably gonna beat me up real bad if I just, open the door and let you out. Either that, or you’ll take off- and I really wouldn’t blame you, but… I have a job to do here, and that job is to get you out of here safely. After that, I dunno. But, you’ll end up dying here if I just leave ya.” 

“I saw the little fire trick you did- so I’m guessing… You’re some sort of elemental, which means you could really, really kill me, and go wherever you wanted- so… I have this thing-” 

The target bristled, teeth clenched and eyes filled with fury. 

“O-Okay. That’s fine. No thing. I don’t have a thing, what thing? That’s cool, too.” He grinned, though it looked a lot more like a grimace, and held neither amusement nor joy. 

He deflated with an exasperated sigh, chewing at the inside of his cheek. “Look, buddy- I don’t know how else i’m supposed to do this- I’m just a delivery driver-” He held up his gloved hands in mock defense. “I don’t want to die yet, so, you can either reason with me… Or I drop the job and leave you for the next guy. You’re not leaving me with much of a choice. Unfortunately, I don’t deal in pinky promises anymore, so you gotta give me something I can work with.” 

A deep, hoarse voice sounded from behind the glass- reverberating almost eerily as it bounced off the enclosed walls of the cell. “Cuff me.” 

A slight, automatic smile twitched at his small mouth in response to the demand, before an eyebrow arched and his lips parted in surprise. 

Finally, he tucked his chin down and closed his eyes- giving a little shake of his head to dispel the trajectory of his mind. Now really, _really_ wasn’t any time for horny thoughts. 

“Right. I could do that, but, your arm looks a little messed up, and we’re just gonna end up messing it up more if I cuff you. 

The taller man seemed to just grunt in ascent. 

"Of course… If you let me use that _thing_ I just, possibly, hypothetically lied about not having… All this would be solved. You're a high risk target, and I'm going to treat you as one… I can't make special exceptions for you just because you're cute." 

Finally, some flicker of emotions crossed the taller man's face- indecipherable, but… Nonetheless, _something._

"So, you gonna be a good boy for me or not, 061?" Though anything but bored, his drawl said otherwise- a tactic he used solely to inflict a sense of doubt upon his quarries, when needed in similar scenarios. 

Honestly, he looked like shit. 

And though this was _just_ for the money, something inside of him protested the idea of leaving him here to die. 

He probably hadn't eaten, since the bounty went up on the job board at the very least- he had access to water, but he was irrefutably malnourished and drained of his energy. 

Was he really in a position where he could attack him either way? 

Baekhyun's self preservation instincts protested, but he gave a long suffering sigh when the taller man didn't so much as budge. 

"Fine," he grunted, shaking his head in irritation as he backtracked to the control room where he'd blindly fumbled for the lighting panel- looking for something that would indicate where the room could be unlocked. In the background, the sirens continued to blare, and the throbbing in his head grew louder. 

He groaned out loud- nothing. There wasn't _anything_ that he could see that looked like it would unlock the cell within view- he didn't have the time to spare for _patience_. 

So, without another thought, he reached for the blaster pistol holstered on his hip, rounded the corner for the second time, aimed for the cell's individual access panel that likely required a keycode, handprint, or ocular scan, and shot. 

A loud, mechanical whirring sounded in response to the shot, in what he _hoped_ meant that the lock had unlatched. 

However… A couple of yanks on the door proved to be unsuccessful. 

So, logically, he fired a couple of quick shots at the handle of the door too- pleasantly surprised when it hissed and popped open. 

And with it, an intense wave of heat that had him quickly backing away. 

Right, elemental. It was like a _furnace_ in the cell- yet the target hadn't so much as broken a sweat, again proving his theory held some weighting. 

The target nudged the door open with his good shoulder, eyebrows raised in apparent surprise. 

Baekhyun could almost guarantee the only thing on the taller man's mind was that he was an _idiot_ for releasing him from his cell. 

He wasn't entirely sure he wasn't- but his sense of empathy could take the fall for that minute detail. 

* * *

If someone had implied that he'd make it to his ship successfully or safely, he'd have called bullshit in a heartbeat. He'd have put money on the improbability of such a feat. 

But with the hatch closed, housing Baekhyun and his Quarry inside… He came to the striking realization that he _had_ made it back safely, with the Elemental in tow. 

"Is this the part where you knock me on my ass with that crazy fire shit and commandeer my ship, after kicking me out and leaving me to die of dehydration?" He had a bad habit of running his mouth when he felt apprehension, and he could swear he'd never been so nervous. 

The fire elemental sent him a long, almost considering glance, before pointedly _rolling his eyes_ and glancing down towards where his good, functional hand was cuffed to Baekhyun's. 

"Ah. Right. Look, I'm sorry, buddy. But I don't take any chances- and your other arm looks pretty fuck- I mean… Buggered up, so it seemed a little inhumane to cuff your hands behind your back. That shit looks bad, man." He shook his head in disbelief. 

"The sooner I get you there, the better, but I think we should make a pitstop along the way to get that checked out. Can't have them docking my payout due to damaged goods." 

"You speak too much, head hunter," a low, barely audible, hoarse voice rasped- making the hair on the back of his neck stand on end and raising gooseflesh along his arms. To his chagrin, he shuddered visibly from just the mere sound. The huskiness. The depth. He didn't even mind that he'd inferred that he was little more than Hitman-for-hire. 

He'd let him call him much _much_ worse with _that_ voice _._

Despite himself, his face and neck heated- he could feel it, just as he could feel the prisoner's stare. 

"Shut up," he snapped, glaring half-heartedly and turning his head away. 

The ship whirred to life with the flick of a few switches and the turn of a key- Baekhyun sighing in relief- happy to disembark after the particularly nerve-wracking endeavor. 

"Hey," he hissed, narrowing his eyes at his impromptu guest. "Seatbelt, now. We're gonna be met with a _little_ bit of turbulence." 

* * *

While not unexpected, the extended silence was unnerving- Baekhyun wasn’t used to having live cargo, let alone someone _conscious_ sitting in the cockpit of his ship and saying absolutely _nothing._ The tension was evident- to him, at the very least- and so it felt appropriate to at least _attempt_ to make idle conversation, regardless of whether or not the other man would actually verbally offer him a response. 

“Hey,” He began, clearing his throat softly and chancing a glance towards his passenger. The other man didn’t meet his gaze or offer him any sort of reaction to indicate that he’d heard him. Baekhyun released an exasperated sigh- frowning. 

On Baekhyun’s side of things… He was just doing his job. Checkpoint A to Checkpoint B, without any lengthy interruptions to impede on their journey- the sooner the mission was over with… The better. The least he could do was try to make the experience marginally more pleasant for him and his passenger. 

"What should I call you?" He tried, arching a brow- shrinking in on himself a little when he caught the other man's level gaze- eyes narrowed and mouth pulled into a tight frown. 

"What's with the look?" He laughed a little nervously- pushing, testing the waters to see if he could get him to relax a little- to no avail. 

"I don't see the point in introducing myself to someone who simply sees me as a profitable resource." He spoke through grit teeth, and Baekhyun flinched as if he'd been stung- face pulled into a wince. 

Baekhyun didn't talk to a lot of people- he talked a lot, but never like that. Never to make idle conversation- he usually only had the sound of his own voice to accompany him. 

He would have been elated, in different circumstances- having a companion, regardless of whether or not it made him nervous. It was company. It was another _person._

Baekhyun had always known the job of a bounty Hunter wouldn't be easy- he just had never anticipated that the most difficult part of his line of work would be the resounding silence and inevitable loneliness that followed him wherever he travelled. 

No amount of credits, no amount of wealth or success, could take that away. 

Still, at the end of the day, he had a job to do- even if the work was dirty, and the credits in his hands at the end of his mission would be covered in the blood of hundreds, thousands of others- including the blood of the man beside him. 

He told himself he didn't know what was going to happen to the Phoenix- disassociating from reality made the ordeal much less burdensome. 

But he knew. He knew exactly what was going to happen to him after he dropped him off. 

It had been a lot easier when he'd just been a name and face on a digital bulletin board- a number. A price. 

Meeting him, up close in person, was much, much different. 

"Why did you agree to come with me so readily if you knew what I came to get you for?" 

Chanyeol clenched his jaw, eyes remaining fixated on the expanse of outer space surrounding Baekhyun's battered spaceship. He had an answer- but saying it would reveal information he wasn't willing to give when it would inevitably be at his own expense. The last thing he needed was for the hunter to have more information to give to his eventual captors. 

Simply put, Chanyeol knew what Baekhyun's intentions were, what his true nature was, amidst the conflict and turmoil clouding the human's head and obstructing his judgement. He knew, even when Baekhyun didn't seem to know where his true intentions laid. 

Baekhyun was far from pure. His hands weren't clean, nor was his conscience- but his true nature had never changed, it would always remain at his core, even when forced into a position where he had to do things he didn't personally agree with. Desperation did a lot of things to men- he knew that well. 

And the man dubbed "The Phoenix," could sense that, easily. 

That was why he'd gone with Baekhyun. That was why he'd willingly followed him and boarded his ship- on top of being starved, exhausted, with his arm badly injured, thanks to his own doing, he could sense his true intentions- and they weren't bad. 

He _knew_ true evil. Had been faced with it, countless times. It wasn't his first time being captured, and it certainly wouldn't be his last, if things continued the way they were going. 

As a Phoenix, it was said that he possessed great and powerful, borderline supernatural, abilities- like vitality, and his affinity for flame, as a fire elemental. 

Man had always sought to take those abilities from his kind, to fully harness them, and bend them to their every whim- and it never worked. Their abilities couldn't be taken. 

It wasn't magic, it wasn't some otherworldly source- but rather, a part of them, so heavily integrated that it was woven into their very DNA itself. 

And no amount of testing, no amount of trial and error, could change that. It all ended up in resounding failure while causing unnecessary suffering for his kind- being treated inhumanely. Being treated worse than animals. 

Baekhyun didn't know what he was bringing him into. He thought he knew, but he didn't. 

"You left me with no other choice," he spat instead- struggling to keep up the intensity of his glare. To show resentment that he couldn't force himself to feel despite knowing what the hunter was bringing him into. 

"Well, fine. Do you wanna go back? Back there, with all those sirens blaring and your arm barely functional? Is that what you'd prefer?" He snapped, panting softly- his guilt and his impatience showing through. He knew it was wrong, but he also knew he didn't have much in the ways of options. 

"Are you going to answer me? I'll turn this ship around, leave you for the next bounty Hunter who will… Who…" He trailed off, inexplicably upset for something so seemingly minor as his passenger not responding to him. 

He knew what it was- the anxiety and panic. He knew why he was angry, because he knew what he was doing was so, so wrong, and went against everything he stood for. 

His desperation and lack of direction was entirely transparent. 

"Fuck," Baekhyun cursed, scrubbing at his face with his hand- now wasn't the time to be having a mental break. He didn't have the time or the financial stability to be a nervous wreck. 

"I'm… Sorry. I know that this is super fucked up-" 

"Chanyeol," he spoke up, finally, after much deliberation and consideration. 

"Huh?" Baekhyun tried, the impending breakdown momentarily dispelling. 

"My name is Chanyeol." 

"Oh," he said dumbly, swallowing dryly. 

"Right. Okay. Chanyeol. I'd say it's a pleasure to meet you, but-" 

"You're rambling. You're nervous- stop doing that," Chanyeol pressed, cutting him off purposefully- visibly uncomfortable with the sudden raw emotion the human was emitting. 

"Don't think about it, just complete your job and I'll be off your hands." 

"How can you give up so easily, man?" He murmured, voice merely a sad whisper. 

"I don't have many other options, do I?" 

He didn't. 

Baekhyun entertained the idea in his head for no longer than a few fleeting moments- he really didn't, and neither did Baekhyun- the incessant creaking and rattling of his ship was a testament to that. 

"They could kill you, or worse," he mumbled- uncertain as to why he was even bringing up the inevitable. Certainly, this Chanyeol knew all that. The scars on his face and hands- the little skin he could see beneath the monochromatic ensemble, said as much. 

Maybe, to get any sort of reaction out of him he could- to get him to reveal some sort of sheer, raw emotion that would make the inhuman seem a little less…. Inhuman. 

But his face remained impassive, turning his head to watch the shining stars and scattered asteroids fleeting by as the ship travelled further and further to their final destination. 

_Chanyeol_ 's final destination, and Baekhyun's hopeful pool of wealth- if blood money could even be considered as such. 

\-- 

Despite fighting it, eventually unconsciousness claimed his passenger- evident in the way his head lolled lamely to the side- even asleep, his posture remained rigid. Defensive- he was still in pain, even if he did well to disguise it in the mere grit of his teeth and the terseness of his replies. 

With the ship on autopilot, Baekhyun unfastened his seatbelt and shifted in the narrow cockpit to awkwardly unfasten Chanyeol's- gasping when his eyes flew open and his good hand shot out to grab Baekhyun's reflexively- eyes wide, angry in one second and softened in the next. Chanyeol sighed softly in relief- letting go of Baekhyun's hand. 

Which told him one of two things, really. 

One, he didn't perceive Baekhyun to be much, if any, of a threat at all. 

And two, he'd at some point become accustomed to being woken up rudely. 

"What are you doing?" He groaned, blinking tiredly- heart rate slowing again with the assurance that his life wasn't in any immediate danger. It was just the human that had released him from the facility. 

Even if the intent was to transport him from one facility to another, Baekhyun's kindness was what ultimately differentiated him from his many captors- the successful ones, or otherwise. 

To the bulk of the Universe, Elementals, even when held up to the many alien races and exotic species scattered across the solar system, were an anomaly. Possibly even science experiments gone horribly, drastically wrong. 

Chanyeol, long dubbed "the Phoenix," was an abomination to man and alien-kind alike. 

However, Baekhyun, from the start, didn't seem to see that- which spoke of both his ignorance and lack of self-preservation instincts. 

He'd never admit it, but it was almost… Refreshing. A human who happened upon him, witnessed his elemental ability, and didn't think, 'freak.' 

Baekhyun was simply, reasonably, scared of either being lit on fire, or knocked on his ass- something most humans were more than capable of on their own. 

To Baekhyun, the inadvertent and impromptu bounty-hunter, Chanyeol wasn't any different than the rest of them. Wasn't any more lethal. Wasn't any more dangerous. 

All of those drawn conclusions would be false, under normal circumstances, but wounded, exhausted, and malnourished as he was, even if Chanyeol _had_ wanted to, he didn't have the energy to fight or hurt him. 

In addition, Chanyeol had long ago given up fighting- ever since he stopped having something, or rather, _someone_ , to fight for. 

"I… Wanted to be nice and move you without you waking up," he mumbled, face a little flushed- deadpan. 

"Your neck is gonna hurt really bad if you sleep like that. C'mon, big guy. I have a perfectly good unoccupied bunk- nothing fancy, but-" 

Normally, Chanyeol would have declined any help from a hunter. From a human- but something about his earnestness made him hard to refuse. 

Plus, he couldn't remember the last time he'd slept in a good, proper bed. 

"You're not as heavy as you look," he commented, helping Chanyeol to stand, steadying him with one hand on his arm before guiding him to the back of his cramped ship. 

"Watch your head… Here we are," he gestured towards his, surprisingly, meticulously made bed- the one tidy thing in his mess of a bunker. 

"Is this a guest-room or something?" Chanyeol inquired, curiously, gingerly lowering himself into the mattress with a long, low groan as he stretched his legs out. 

Baekhyun simply chuckled, shaking his head- amused, "No, Sir. This ship barely has enough room for me and my cargo on a good day- that's my bunk, but, don't worry, I was docked just yesterday and the bedding is all-" 

"What do you normally transport?" He inquired gently, folding his good arm beneath his head- unsure why he was still talking to his captor, and chalking it up to the monotony and loneliness of being in isolation for a prolonged period of time. 

"Uh… Usually mechanical equipment. Parts," he hummed in consideration, glancing up at the low ceiling as if considering his answer. "Sometimes food, furniture… If I'm really desperate, or I owe someone a favor, arms and ammo-" 

"You're… A delivery driver," Chanyeol cut in, seemingly incredulous. 

It suddenly made sense, why Baekhyun's aura radiated neither danger nor ill intent- there wasn't anything _dangerous_ about him. 

Baekhyun grinned a little sheepishly, scratching at the back of his head. "Yeah. I do what I can to get by- normally dry goods and such is enough." 

"But?" Chanyeol pushed- genuinely, much to his own surprise- curious. 

"But… Legal, morally correct stuff doesn't pay for ship repairs and upgrades," Baekhyun sighed wistfully, smiling a little sadly. Ashamed. 

"Then where do your finances go from your usual delivery jobs?" He wasn't entirely sure why he was so curious. Why he was so, dare he say, _invested._ None of this, ultimately, mattered. 

For the first time during their conversation, Baekhyun lapsed into silence- as if considering whether or not he should answer. Whether or not it was safe to answer. 

"I send it back home," he finally murmured, vaguely, whilst averting his gaze. "Anyways," he cleared his throat, forcing a smile, "How about you get some rest. I'll wake you when we make a pit-stop." 

He didn't wait for a response before ducking out of the bunker to leave- soft footfalls fading out. 

Sleep claimed him easily the second time- not even the turbulence of the space-storm Baekhyun narrowly avoided served to wake him, nor the clumsy landing Baekhyun made when he finally docked it in the relay's ship-bay. 

Contrary to his statement, Baekhyun didn't wake him once they landed- briefly, he entertained the idea of turning tail. Of escaping, and waiting until the coast was clear before making his next move. 

It played out in his head vividly- as his imagination always had been- strategizing, planning silently. 

Yet, he made no move. No attempt. He simply remained in place, much to his continued confusion, for the human to return- presumably with medical supplies in tow. 

He overhead voices nearing the ship, immediately putting him on guard- there should only have been one voice, Baekhyun-- 

"Chanyeol, if you're awake, it's just me," he called out, slowly opening the door and peeking around before gesturing for someone else to follow. 

"This is 'Xing, he's here to fix you up. Don't worry, he's safe." He assured, wincing. Something told him the last thing Chanyeol wanted was for yet another person to know his current whereabouts- particularly in an enclosed, confined space. 

Yixing was a quiet, soft-spoken, and diligent man- working quickly and carefully to do what he could help set Chanyeol's arm. 

"It's not broken," he affirmed, nodding, carefully feeling about his forearm and elbow and watching for anything to indicate it hurt- nothing, beyond a slight wince. 

"Fractured, most likely. The blood is superficial, and it's swollen, but it will heal just fine. I've cleaned it up the best I can, all I suggest is taking it easy," he smiled congenially, before levelling Chanyeol with a stern look. 

"That means no more hitting or smashing things for at least a few weeks," and from one second to the next, his smile was back and he was making to stand, nodding first to Baekhyun and then his guest. 

"Thanks, Xing- is there anything-" 

"No, Baekhyun. Stop asking. I'm always going to give you the same answer, you should know that by now," he chuckled softly, patting him on the shoulder and beginning to leave the bunker. 

"And, both of you," he paused, meeting both of their gazes. "Be careful out there." 

The door closed softly on his way out- leaving the two of them in companionable silence once more. 

"Guess this means they won't deduct anything from my pay afterall, huh?" He grinned, shaking his head. 

Baekhyun's readiness to joke about such a serious matter spoke of several things- but ultimately Chanyeol had been around long enough to know a shitty liar when he saw one. 

"Maybe I'll just hit something again, to break it for good," he responded, deadpan- momentarily taking the hunter by surprise, before he cracked a small, barely-there smile. 

With the ship re-fuelled, Baekhyun maneuvered his ship out of the docking bay to make the second, and last leg of their journey- much like the first half, they didn't speak much- only this time, the silence wasn't uncomfortable or tense. 

"You're bringing me in?" He asked after all, some hours later, when their presumed final destination came into view- marked clearly on the ship's astrogation screen. 

"Sorry, buddy," he sighed, frowning softly. 

"Has anyone ever told you you're a horrible liar?" 

To his credit, Baekhyun simply arched an eyebrow, shrugging. "May have heard that once or twice- but I'm not lying. I don't have room on this ship for two of us, and I don't have the financial stability to keep it running long enough to keep making deliveries." 

Chanyeol's face fell- eyebrows furrowing- confusion taking hold. 

Baekhyun's entire disposition and aura were saying one thing, while his mouth was saying another- doing nothing to indicate that he was indeed lying as Chanyeol had presumed. 

Their second landing was a lot more smooth, and Baekhyun unfastened his seatbelt to reach down to fumble through his bag- procuring the pair of handcuffs he had taken off of them early on, after deciding that Chanyeol harbored no intention of going anywhere. 

He waited, staring expectantly, for Chanyeol to hold out his hands- where he carefully- _too carefully_ , went about fastening them to his wrists. 

"Alright. Keep your head down, and don't say anything to anyone," he murmured, helping his apparent prisoner to his feet and guiding him out of the ship's cabin- descending the rickety steps with Chanyeol in tow. 

"What happens if I try to run?" He tried, watching Baekhyun's suspiciously impassive face for change in expression. 

"We're surrounded by people who either want you dead, or want to turn you in," he responded, keeping his eyes ahead- fixated on a small group of people by who he assumed was the man who had put the hit out on the Phoenix. 

"Your cuffs nice and tight?" He asked, a few metres away- prompting Chanyeol to give a light tug- 

He bit back the expression of realization threatening to cross his face. "Yeah," he answered instead. 

Finally, with one hand firmly squeezing the arm of his target to reflect a sense of control over him that he certainly didn't possess, he reached their final checkpoint. 

"Evening, Sir. I have the quarry here for you- as you can see, he's alive and mostly unharmed. I have a scrambler on him to keep him tame, and in line." he kept his expression flat- he knew the kind of people he was dealing with, and they weren't the kind you attempted to joke around with or to be met with a smile and a handshake. 

"Good, you can hand him over now, Hunter, and my partner will handle your payment." 

Baekhyun tutted softly, "That's not how this works, Sir. I took the job, I got your target, I get paid first, _then_ you get your prisoner," he held his breath, wincing internally. He had to be convincing, and he had to be forward, or he'd inevitably get stepped on. 

Despite usually being the opposite of imposing, the front was convincing enough, as the man sighed and grunted a displeased, "Fine. Hand him his payment, and then he can leave." 

"Count it out for me before handing it over, I want to see it's all there before I leave." 

It was almost thrilling, having these powerful, dangerous men bend to his whim- he just narrowly prevented himself from getting overly carried away- though he was tempted to request that he count it backwards as well. 

"Alright, thank you very much, gentlemen. He's all yours." 

Stiffly, Chanyeol shuffled his feet to cross the threshold- sending him a fleeting glance as a hundred different possible scenarios played out in his head. 

Baekhyun met his gaze, but he displayed nothing to indicate what else he had planned, or _if_ he had anything planned. 

With impending dread, Baekhyun watched them carry him away- roughly gripping his arms to all but drag him along. 

With great reluctance, and inevitable guilt, Baekhyun turned to leave- dull pink hair and heterochromia stubbornly imprinted into his conscience as he made liftoff. 

___ 

"061," a low voice grunted, one of the many masked, fully armored security guards coming into view of his cell. 

"You're being transported, stand away from the door and hold out your hands where I can see them." 

The cell door freaked open once he complied- Chanyeol staring at the guard blankly- he'd been jostled around by several in the course of the last few hours- intent on roughing him up a little, leaving him with a busted lip and a bruise to his cheekbone. Superficial, but instilling into him once more how powerless he was, at the mercy of humans who wanted nothing more than to see him dissected on a cold stainless steel table. 

Once they'd realized his cuffs weren't closed, they'd been quick to remedy it- in addition to chipping him to truly suppress his elemental affinity, marking their Hunter as an apparent liar. 

Ultimately, it didn't matter. They had him in their hands now, and fully cowed in addition to being rendered entirely powerless. 

The grip on his upper arm was firm, but not as painful as it has been as the guard dragged him into another room- dimly lit, and empty, with the exception of two bodies lying prone on the floor- stripped out of whatever outerwear they'd been wearing. 

Chanyeol narrowed his eyes, looking from the two unconscious men to his new captor. 

"Hurry up, put this on," a more familiar voice hissed. "This shit is heavy and it smells like burnt plastic and rubber under here." 

Chanyeol silently shook his head in disbelief- biting back a smirk when the shorter man steadied him to help him pull on a spare security outfit over the pure-white attire he'd been redressed in- the numbers "61" stitched into the white turtleneck. 

It was too early to make any comment- but the sense of satisfaction, and… Hope, he felt, was equally as indescribable as it was thrilling. 

Dressed from head to toe in all-black, masked security gear, the pair were entirely unassuming- even as they made to exit the pristine maze of white walls and glass panels of the sterile facility. 

Together. 

____ 

Even as they boarded Baekhyun's ship, it was too early for celebration as adrenaline pumped through their veins in tandem. 

Baekhyun had proven him wrong more than just once in the few days he'd known him. 

"The credits I got for your fancy ass are more than enough to cover the repairs for my ship- you sure fetched a pretty penny. Do you think I should see about getting a second bed put in?" He grinned, eyes alight- he was partially joking, he didn't want to be entirely presumptuous. 

"Perhaps," Chanyeol hummed, stripping out of the security gear and grimacing at the all-white uniform he'd been stuffed in underneath. 

"I have clean clothes, if you didn't want to walk around the ship naked," he chuckled, shaking his head and brushing past Chanyeol to grab a change of clothes for the man in question- freezing when a strong hand caught his wrist and pulled him back. 

Chanyeol's face was impassive- eyes narrowed, frown firm, "You confuse me," he professed, sighing softly as he raised Baekhyun's hand to stare at his open palm, as if it would give him all the answers he sought. 

"But I don't mind it. You're not deceitful. You're not cruel… You're not what I thought you were, either." 

For the first time since he'd met him, Baekhyun had been rendered speechless- eyes wide, searching, eyebrows furrowed and lips parted. 

"Is this the part where you kiss me?" He mumbled, dumbly, eyes glazed over. 

Chanyeol's eyes narrowed dangerously, and Baekhyun could practically feel himself break out in a cold sweat. 

"Should I kiss someone who left me behind?" 

"No, but… You should kiss someone who came back for you and risked his life for a practical stranger." 

“The only reason you risked your life was because you brought me in in the first place,” he challenged, unimpressed and unconvinced. Surely Baekhyun wasn’t _that_ delusional. 

“Okay… Well… Yeah… I guess you’re right,” Baekhyun mumbled, looking down at his shoes- a little flushed. 

He looked so cute, and so pathetic, that Chanyeol almost caved. 

“Go get me those clothes,” He arched an eyebrow, letting go of his wrist and smirking internally as he watched him walk away- shuffling awkwardly- embarrassed. As far as Chanyeol was concerned, the embarrassment was at least partially deserved. 

There wasn’t any fun in letting him get away with it so easily. 

Once the pair were changed, after docking at a remote, off-planet location, Baekhyun levelled him with a serious look. 

“What about if I blow you. Then do I deserve a kiss?” 

Chanyeol sighed heavily and shook his head in disbelief, “What makes you so certain that I would want to kiss you in the first place?” 

Finally, that seemed to make him give pause to at least consider his answer- as certain as he was that the chemistry was there, Chanyeol was certainly making him work for it. 


	2. Chapter 2

“ _Oh my god_ ,” Baekhyun moaned, throwing himself down on one of the two double beds- spreading himself out like a starfish as he sunk into the plush bedding. 

“I can’t tell you when the last time was that I could afford to sleep in a _real_ bed, or in a room with AC. This is _nice.”_

With Baekhyun’s ship being in for the second half of the remaining necessary maintenance, repairs, and a few other additional upgrades, he and Chanyeol were required to stay elsewhere for a few nights- a quaint low-traffic hotel a few miles away was the most feasible option, alongside being reasonably priced. 

Baekhyun half expected, and perhaps was slightly hopeful, that the Hotel attendant would inform them that the only room available had a single bed- but that didn’t appear to be the case. 

In any case, having room to spread out was certainly a welcome reprieve- as much as he liked being close to Chanyeol, the fire elemental was a literal human furnace, and sleeping near him on hot summer nights was virtually unbearable. 

It had been a couple of weeks since they’d become acquainted, and while they hadn’t grown closer by conventional means, Chanyeol felt an irrefutable fondness for the human who was so intent on gaining his approval and affection- even after being none-too-politely turned down again… And again. 

He never gave up- something that was equal parts both endearing and mildly irritating. 

Wordlessly, with an elongated sigh, Baekhyun made to stand- digging through the bag he'd packed for a change of clothes and some of his shower supplies. 

He gave Chanyeol a mock-salute as he passed him, where he'd seated himself on the unoccupied mattress, before entering the bathroom, shutting the door behind him. Seconds later, after some audible mumbling about how nice the heated bathroom tile felt against his sore feet, Chanyeol heard the shower running. 

Once he heard Baekhyun's soft, melodic voice through the wall separating them, he could tell he'd stepped under the spray- just one of the many things he'd picked up on after spending a prolonged period of time with the man in question. 

Despite his goofiness and the usual antics he displayed around Chanyeol, his singing voice stood out in stark contrast. Chanyeol would never admit it aloud, but Baekhyun sounded… Beautiful. He'd be lying if he denied that he'd fallen right asleep to the sound of that same voice on more than just one occasion. 

The duo meshed surprisingly well together, with all their differences taken into consideration- Baekhyun's outward disposition matched almost seamlessly with how carefree and ultimately _happy_ Chanyeol had been as a young adult- before being discovered. Before being taken from his family and the life he'd known, and put through hell and back. He'd always wanted a quiet life- but it seemed like the quiet life just had never been meant for him, or others like him. 

Yet, he was certain that the human also had had his fair share of hardships and struggles- deaths of loved ones, broken relationships and crushed dreams, yet he still didn't seem to let it bring him down- it was almost enough for Chanyeol to feel guilty about giving him such a hard time. 

He still didn't trust him, not _entirely-_ they were vastly different from one another, despite some of their behavioral similarities- Ultimately, Baekhyun was human, and Chanyeol was not. 

With that said, Baekhyun was certainly making it difficult for him to remain aloof and to keep his distance emotionally- he was just so… honest. Baekhyun never lied to him, to a fault. Brutal honesty, things that probably could have gone unsaid- that was a lot more than he could say for the vast majority of humans he'd encountered during his lifetime. 

Ultimately, as Chanyeol had come to realize in time, his emotions didn't always seem to match his actions and words. 

Baekhyun didn't lie to him… but he seemed to lie to himself quite frequently. 

Outwardly, Baekhyun smiled, laughed, joked around and gave off an air of carelessness and light-heartedness to everyone he met. 

Inwardly, Baekhyun frequently seemed to be gripped by sadness, and by a loneliness Chanyeol understood all too well- being surrounded by people, being in the near constant presence of others, but still feeling so impossibly _lonely._

"What has you so lost in thought?" The voice of the man in question shook him from his reverie- so wrapped up in his mind that he'd failed to hear the shower shut off, or the door open. Chanyeol shook his head, blinking heavily before looking up at him. 

Really, _truly_ looking at him, with a soul-piercing stare that would have made almost anyone else uncomfortable. 

To Baekhyun, though… that was simply... Chanyeol. The unnerving qualities and all were just a 

central part of who he was. So, he didn't avert his eyes the way he wanted to, with how intensely Chanyeol was staring. 

"You confuse me," Chanyeol finally breathed, a slight smile tugging at his lips. 

"Uh-huh. And you needed to stare into my soul to figure that one out?" He teased, chuckling softly, beads of water from his hastily towel-dried red and black hair trickling down his long neck in rivulets. Chanyeol's eyes tracked the movement before meeting Baekhyun's curious, amused gaze once more. 

"It didn't work," Chanyeol, supplied. 

Baekhyun tousled his hair with his fingers, pursing his lips. 

"What if you get a closer look?" He teased, fully expecting Chanyeol to brush him off like he was wont to- Baekhyun simply expected it, at this point. 

"Perhaps. You'll have to come closer in order for me to decide." 

Baekhyun's eyes widened fractionally. 

"Wait, really?" He mumbled, dumbly, taken aback. 

"Before I change my mind," he pushed, eyebrows arched, challenging. 

Baekhyun gulped audibly before stepping in closer- eyes wary. 

"Closer than that," Chanyeol encouraged, leaning back on his palms with his head tilted to the side, legs casually splayed apart as he stared at him intently, and expectantly. 

Breathing in deeply in an attempt to ease his nerves, Baekhyun could practically feel his heartbeat in his throat- nervous, anticipatory. 

But there was no mocking smile, no head shaking, nothing to indicate that he was simply teasing him. 

With their knees nearly touching, Baekhyun whispered a soft, "How about now?" 

He yelped when Chanyeol suddenly reached to grab for him, pulling him in by his waist, forcing him to bend his knees to situate himself in his lap, or risk falling backwards. 

"I… I swear to God, Chanyeol, if you're-" 

And finally. _Finally,_ soft, plush lips pressed up against his own- effectively silencing him. 

Baekhyun went stalk still, initially, as his brain threatened to implode from the striking realization- processing just what exactly had happened. 

He was in Chanyeol's lap… and Chanyeol was _kissing_ him. 

When it dawned on him, he effectively melted into the kiss- moaning softly against his lips as he threw his arms over his shoulders, tilting his head a little in an attempt to deepen it. 

Chanyeol's lips felt _heavenly_ against his own- soft, warm, and pliant. His tongue was rough, demanding, and the grip on his waist was firm, alongside the hand he'd threaded through Baekhyun's hair- not pulling, but ultimately encouraging him to continue, and to stop him from pulling away. 

And seated in Chanyeol's lap, with the mere barrier of Baekhyun's thin shorts, and Chanyeol's dark jeans to separate them, neither of their bodies could lie. 

Baekhyun had been waiting- but Chanyeol's hardness was a surprise. His nerves tingled when he rocked forward and elicited a moan from his parted lips- encouraging him to rock against him again… and again- little whines and groans escaping his own lips, muffled against Chanyeol's mouth. 

Chanyeol's hands finally stilled his desperate motions- and Baekhyun sobbed dryly, attempting to rock forward again, to chase his much-needed release, but to no avail. 

He raised one hand to grip Baekhyun's chin- gazing into his eyes again- glazed over, lidded, lips parted on soft pants for breath, and his hair mussed. Baekhyun's expression practically radiated need. Desperation. Unshakeable desire. 

No words needed to be shared- even if Baekhyun wanted verbal answers- he received confirmation in the form of Chanyeol stripping out of his striped shirt, before pulling Baekhyun's off over his head- leaving the flushed, panting mess in his lap with the pair of them half-naked. Baekhyun's eyes trailed over his tawny skin, hands coming up to feel, to touch, sliding over the panes of muscle and definition- touching every scar- fresh, and old, completely in awe of the _masterpiece_ of a man before him. 

"You can do more than just touch," Chanyeol murmured, eyes dark, and Baekhyun inhaled shakily- taken aback. 

"Have you always been like this, or are you just trying to rile me up? Because it's working," Baekhyun rambled, smiling against Chanyeol's lips when he leaned in to silence him with yet another kiss- hot, _hot_ hands sliding up to hold his waist. 

"Both," he responded, "You've been dying to touch me-" 

"Shut up," Baekhyun hissed, face and neck flushed in a combination of arousal and slight embarrassment. 

"Now I'm giving you the opportunity. Or have you just been all talk this entire time?" 

" _Honestly_?" Baekhyun began, swallowing dryly, "I've had sex like, once, and it _really_ wasn't good," he professed lamely. 

He shrunk in on himself a little when Chanyeol sent him a long, considering glance, tilting his face up with his index finger curled under his chin. 

"Don't think, Baekhyun," He rasped, eyes lidded. " _Feel,"_ He punctuated his instruction by pulling him impossibly closer- their bare chests touching, with Baekhyun's ass pressed firmly against his groin. 

Admittedly, Baekhyun found it reassuring that Chanyeol seemed to be just as excited as he was- _equally_ as turned on, judging by the prominent shape of his hard cock through his pants. 

Draping his arms over Chanyeol's shoulders was nearly an automatic movement- if not simply because he didn't know where else to put his hands with their bodies being in such close proximity. It felt right, in any case, to wrap his arms around him, _melting_ against him. 

While Chanyeol was certainly still usually difficult to sleep next to on his ship, his abnormally high body temperature hit in an entirely unprecedented way when given a sexual context. For a change… it felt _nice._ Further adding to the simmering arousal rising inside of him. 

"When I said feel-" Chanyeol began, the rumbling of his chest as he spoke, vibrating straight through Baekhyun, in turn. 

"I _am_ feeling," Baekhyun murmured, cutting him off. "By all means, I _invite_ you to speed things up if you're ready to take some initiative." 

He was _challenging_ him. Of course he was. 

The smaller man yelped when Chanyeol abruptly, bodily, picked Baekhyun up and dropped him back down onto the mattress- back pressed against smooth cotton sheets as Chanyeol crawled between his splayed legs. 

"Is this more to your liking?" He pressed, sliding a hand down from his chest, over his soft stomach, to the waistband of his shorts. 

Eyes wide, mouth agape, all Baekhyun could bring himself to murmur was a soft, affirmative " _Yes_. _"_

After waiting for his response, Chanyeol gently began shimmying Baekhyun's shorts down over his wide hips, sitting back to pull them off entirely- leaving the other man flushed and entirely naked beneath him. 

"Y-you too," Baekhyun pressed, heart thudding in his chest. While he'd invited Chanyeol to take over, he hadn't, truthfully, expected him to do so readily. 

Nor did he anticipate that he'd actually _listen_ to his demand- watching, hungrily, as Chanyeol's hands fell down to the fly of his own jeans, before shoving them down his hips and working them off his legs a little awkwardly. 

Still, no amount of awkwardness detracted from the sight he made above him- cock hard, thick, and heavy between his legs. It was all Baekhyun could do, to envision how that cock would feel inside of him- buried so deep he could feel it in his stomach. He'd been nervous before, but with the pair of them both completely bare of any clothing, the realization was _finally_ setting in that this was _really_ , _actually_ happening- something he'd been envisioning now for _weeks_. 

"Not to be a buzzkill, but as ready as I am for you to fuck me into tomorrow, I'm not about to let you do so with your saliva. Lube is in my bag, front pocket," he supplied, words rushed. Hurried. Nervous, but anticipatory. 

It didn't take long for Chanyeol to grab it, thankfully- tossing it onto the mattress before situating himself between Baekhyun's plush thighs once more. 

"How do you want to do this?" Chanyeol finally asked, sitting back on his heels. 

"Well, I was _hoping_ you were gonna fuck me," he mumbled, truthfully too turned on to be embarrassed. He heard the bottle of lube being uncapped, and breathed in shakily as he tilted his head back, hooking his hands behind his knees to spread himself open further. 

Another benefit to Chanyeol's body temperature, was that by the time his lube-coated fingers reached him, the cool substance had already warmed up to his body temperature- massaging around his clenching hole, slowly, patiently, relaxing him from the outside before finally beginning to press his fingers inside. 

To his pleasant surprise, his inner walls gave way easily to the two digits he sunk inside of him once they breached his rim- eliciting a strangled moan from the man beneath him that only served as further encouragement. Deft, experienced fingers working inside him- slowly, but surely getting him to relax with gentle ministrations, in combination with the hand he'd settled on his hip- a constant pressure, a reminder, that he was there. That he was real, and that _this_ was happening. 

He leaned in, while fucking him on his fingers, gently spreading them apart to work him open, to press his lips against his neck, trailing his way upwards to the shell of his ear. 

"You've done this before," he commented, the lewd squelch of his fingers inside of him serving to raise a flush to his cheeks. 

"Yeah…" He moaned softly, eyes clenched shut in concentration. 

"And I'm not saying that because you're not tight- I'm saying that because it would take you a lot longer to warm up otherwise," he supplied, amusement audible in his tone as he slipped a third finger inside of his hole- leisurely fingering him until he was a mere panting, moaning mess beneath him. He curled his digits, pressing upward to elicit the most _delightful_ little cry as his fingers nudged against the sensitive bundle of nerves inside of him- shallowly fucking him on his curled fingers to further unwind him. 

Abruptly, Baekhyun's hand shot down to still Chanyeol's- panting and gasping softly for breath, eyes wet, and barely open. 

"That's good," he rasped, wetting his lips and bringing a hand up to wipe his eyes. "Feels… Really fucking good but- I don't wanna cum yet- so, can we…. can we please get to the good part?" 

And with Baekhyun asking so politely, Chanyeol really couldn't bring himself to say no. 

He pulled his fingers out of him- wiping the excess lube around his hole, and then on the sheets- grabbing the bottle again to liberally slick up his cock- already throbbing with want in his grasp. 

"Spread yourself open for me," he encouraged, continuing to stroke his cock, shifting in closer to allow the head to brush against his fluttering entrance, still slightly agape from his fingers, just to hear him moan. He slapped the tip of his cock against his hole a few times to watch the way he tensed as his body spasmed with each impact. 

And _finally_ , he began sinking his cock into the tight heat- earning a loud, pitched cry as Baekhyun's body trembled. 

"Oh.. oh fuck, it's h-hot-" he cursed, eyes threatening to roll with the searing heat of his cock stretching him open. 

Chanyeol attempted to be gradual- attempted to go slow, but with Baekhyun's strong legs wrapped around his waist, he stood no chance when the human urged him closer- moaning loudly as Chanyeol's cock was sheathed fully inside of him- stuffing him full. 

Baekhyun released a strangled moan, sweat beading at his temples as he looked up at Chanyeol through his lidded eyes- staring down at him with as striking intensity as ever, only… there was something else in those eyes now, too- Baekhyun didn't have the presence of mind to look into it, not with how hard he was concentrating on getting himself to relax. 

Panting softly, Baekhyun shut his eyes- gasping when he felt a minute shift inside of him as Chanyeol leaned down to press their upper bodies together- bringing his lips down next to his ear. 

"You look beautiful like this," Chanyeol murmured, groaning when the other man clenched around him in response to the words uttered in a husky, deep voice that proved to send shivers straight through him. 

"Ah- What the… Hell am I supposed to say to that?" He whined, shaking his head. 

Chanyeol took advantage of the momentary distraction by slowly pulling out, only to thrust back in- moaning from the sheer tightness of Baekhyun's body wrapped around him. 

"You f-fucker-" he hissed, nails digging into his upper arms. "You can't just-" 

Chanyeol cut him off with another punctuated thrust- smoother, now, as Baekhyun slowly managed to adjust around him. To melt beneath him. 

"S-say things like that and-" Baekhyun keened as Chanyeol fucked into him again- building up a slow, but steady pace, jolting his body with each thrust of his cock deep inside of him. 

"Not expect me to- to…" He choked out the words- barely intelligible, to an outside ear. His legs had fallen from his hips- allowing Chanyeol to make pause to push at the back of his thighs, further spreading him open- fucking him deeper. Harder. Cock brushing in such a way inside him that he could barely find the presence of mind to continue his sentiment. 

"To… What, Baekhyun?" Chanyeol rasped, evidently lost in concentration- Baekhyun took comfort in the fact that Chanyeol seemed to be equally as affected as he was. 

He threw his arms around his neck to drag him down into a kiss- uncaring of the discomfort it caused by having Chanyeol practically fold him in half just to plow into him- pace speeding up, unfaltering. Baekhyun should have expected inhuman stamina, just as he should have expected every part of Chanyeol to nearly be hot enough to burn him. 

"N-not to fall in love with you, you idiot-" he choked out, in an unexpected show of emotion and uninhibited passion. Chanyeol seemed unfazed- kissing him deeper, as he fucked him harder. 

"Maybe that's what I wanted," Chanyeol rasped, panting against his kiss-swollen lips. His response didn't garner a reaction, with Baekhyun a panting mess beneath him- both from the intensity of the sex, and the sheer heat of Chanyeol's body against and inside his own. 

He could feel when Chanyeol was getting close- cock throbbing inside him as his pace faltered- prompting Baekhyun to lock his legs around the back of his thighs to hold him in place. "Inside, do it inside," he demanded, gasping for breath that he couldn't seem to gather no matter how hard he panted for air. 

Chanyeol's breathing had grown labored, reaching for Baekhyun's cock to hastily jerk him off- length pulsing in his grasp, jerking and leaking pre. 

Chanyeol's near-completion was audible, in that his heavy panting had abruptly cut off mid-thrust as he buried his face in Baekhyun's long neck- eyes clenched shut and jaw tensed as his entire body seemed to tremble, so strung tight, so wound up, only for it all to be released in one powerful climax. 

He moaned, cock throbbing as his spilled inside of him- and the sensation alone was enough to throw Baekhyun headfirst into his own orgasm- the searing heat of his cum spilling deep inside of him, essence painting his walls white, hotter than even Chanyeol's skin- the temperature of his core as a flame elemental. Baekhyun's body spasmed, convulsed, sobbing through his release as he clawed into Chanyeol's back and arms for purchase- attempting to hold onto _something_ to ground him from the earth-shattering intensity. 

All too quickly, it was over- Chanyeol collapsing onto his back beside him after pulling out- both panting heavily for breath- fingers pointedly interlocked in a silent promise that went unspoken, but not unheard. 

He groaned, when he glanced down to see Baekhyun's hand between his own legs- leisurely fingering his cum back inside him from where it was threatening to spill out over the sheets. 

"Did you mean it, what you said?" Chanyeol rasped, groaning as he made to sit up- reaching for the bottled water on the nightstand to chug it back- leaning over to cup the back of Baekhyun's head to raise it enough for him to drink the rest. 

Baekhyun sent him a considering glance, expression indecipherable. 

"Did you want me to mean it?" He tried instead, "Can you pass me some tissues so I can clean myself up?" 

The casualness of the conversation was enough to have him taken aback. It wasn't uncomfortable, or awkward, it was just… 

Right. 

It was how it should have been- Baekhyun might have been a romantic at heart, but he was still silly sometimes, still a tease, and wildly inappropriate at times, just as Chanyeol liked to deny him, like to see what made him tick, and to do whatever he could to elicit a response from him- all whilst his heart was in the same place Baekhyun's was, all whilst he shared the same sentimental values and wishes that his little human did. 

Chanyeol had to know he meant to. Had to know he was serious, and judging from the uninhibited passion of their fucking, of their _lovemaking_ … Baekhyun was in this for the long haul- understanding and accepting of Chanyeol and all of his faults whilst sharing with him many of his own. 

Chanyeol's lack of response prompted Baekhyun to tighten his bootstraps and answer his initial question- but not before clambering into his lap and pulling him up to kiss him- moaning against his lips as his warm, large hands came up to hold his waist- firm, reassuring. 

"I meant it, Chanyeol," he rasped, draping his arms over his shoulders and pressing his forehead against Chanyeol's. 

"Good," Chanyeol whispered, a smile audible in his voice. 

And that was enough- it wasn't a confession, not in a conventional way that made sense, but it was a commitment. It was an answer to a question Baekhyun didn't need to ask. 

Despite Baekhyun showering only half an hour or so beforehand- the duo found themselves in the shower together nonetheless some moments later- embracing, lips pressed together beneath the warm, soothing spray of the overhead shower. Slow, sensual, unhurried, and undemanding. 

Drying eachother off, Chanyeol combed his tousled red and black hair for him, away from his face and out of his eyes, while Baekhyun simply sat still and allowed himself to be pampered. 

Finally, when they got ready sleep after a long, emotionally taxing day, taking up residence on the clean bed, Baekhyun made sure to crank the AC unit to the coldest possible temperature, just so he could snuggle in close next to Chanyeol without it being a hindrance, or proving uncomfortable- nestling into his intense body warmth and sleeping soundly throughout the entire night, well into the early morning. 


End file.
